


With Contracted Wing

by matan4il



Series: When the Halo Breaks [2]
Category: 9-1-1 (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Emo Buck, High School, M/M, Missing Scene, Truth or Dare, Tumblr Prompt, emo!Buck, jock Eddie, jock!eddie
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-09
Updated: 2020-09-09
Packaged: 2021-03-06 22:42:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,532
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26376724
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/matan4il/pseuds/matan4il
Summary: Posted as a fill to a Tumblr prompt -"The taste of Vodka at the back of your throat".A missing scene from my Buddie high school AUWhen the Halo Breaks.Buck squints and crumples his face up in disgust. The taste of the vodka is vile and he can sense the drink burning the back of his throat. He has no idea why the hell he agreed to drink it. It’s a stupid game anyway, Truth or Dare. Eighty percent of his classmates are dumbasses and even the rest, they’re all hormonal teenagers, for fuck’s sake. It wouldn’t matter what the task given to them might be, they would all undoubtedly dare to fulfill it.
Relationships: Evan "Buck" Buckley/Eddie Diaz (9-1-1 TV)
Series: When the Halo Breaks [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1916857
Comments: 24
Kudos: 95





	With Contracted Wing

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you to the lovely Marcia Elena, Frida, Nilshki and Toughpaperround for the input and insight with this prompt fill! Much appreciated!
> 
> You can always prompt me on [my Tumblr](https://matan4il.tumblr.com/).

Buck squints and crumples his face up in disgust. The taste of the vodka is vile and he can sense the drink burning the back of his throat. He has no idea why the hell he agreed to drink it. It's a stupid game anyway, Truth or Dare. Eighty percent of his classmates are dumbasses and even the rest, they're all hormonal teenagers, for fuck's sake. It wouldn't matter what the task given to them might be, they would all undoubtedly dare to fulfill it.

Buck's not inclined to pursue this kind of entertainment with the current company. In fact, he has pretty actively tried to avoid it ever since the eighth grade, when they'd first played Seven Minutes in Heaven and he had debated whether he wanted to kiss Norah, from his English class, or Gill, the senior basketball player who had joined them. But as the game progressed, no one seemed to be kissing anyone of the same sex. Sure, they didn't live in a very open community, but somehow Buck had never realized how pervasive their narrow attitudes were until that game made him silently swallow his feeling of being a freak.

So he would have stayed away today as well, but at the very last minute he changed his mind. He isn't here out of interest in whatever truths or dares he might be tasked with himself. Buck had learned that Eddie was going to be at this party and Buck had been parched for him. The real fire at the back of his throat.

"Okay, Emo boy," one jock says, reaching up and taking the vodka bottle away. The guy's name is Herv. What kind of child abuse is that, calling a kid Herv? At least 'Buck' is only a nickname. His parents aren't great and there's so much they get wrong, but they're never intentionally mean. "Your turn to spin the bottle."

Buck sits back down in his spot among the other players in the circle and observes them. Eddie came in fashionably late with a couple of his athlete friends and is now sitting across from and a little to the right of Buck. With a bit of calculation regarding where to start the spin and how much force to use, it shouldn't be hard to make the bottle point to the quarterback. There are a few gasps and giggles from several students present when it does, but Buck ignores them.

"Truth or Dare?" he asks, looking right at Eddie without a flinch.

That's the bonus of this game. Buck doesn't have to turn away and pretend he's not staring just because other students are around. He can take his fill of Eddie. Absorb the sight of the guy who disappeared on him one night when, after sex, Buck accidentally let an 'I love you' slip past his lips. They were snuggling in his bed, basking in being naked and together. Eddie was playfully tracing the multiple tattoos across Buck's skin, asking about them and paying attention to what made each unique and meaningful. After the words went out, so did Eddie. It's been almost a week since and he's been avoiding any communication. Not that Buck was any better about reaching out during this time, but since he already did too much with his accidental declaration of love, he figured that he should give his boyfriend some space. But these were the seven longest days of Buck's life and hearing earlier today that there was going to be a party in the evening all the jocks were going to, one Eddie would attend... Buck isn't really proud of his snap decision to come here, but hey, he's a dumbass teenager, too.

"Truth," Eddie replies and Buck wonders whether his boyfriend (if that's what they still are to each other) is ready to be honest or if he's just scared of what the dare might be.

"Have you ever been in love?" The emo attire has always made Buck feel fearless, maybe stupidly so. He can't help turning his truth into a dare, too.

Eddie's eyes are serious and the silence around the room is tense. Everyone is listening in, but Buck's line of sight is unbroken by anyone. It's almost like he and Eddie are being watched, yet at the same time, are completely alone.

Then Eddie smiles. It's liquid warm and washes all over Buck. "I am." It's stated plainly, like it isn't an earthquake. Especially when revealed in this social circle.

It's less than a second of quiet before everyone is talking, asking questions, demanding answers, wanting to hear who their good-looking quarterback is into.

"Dude, how come you didn't say anything? Who is she?"

"Oh, I bet it's Linda. The new cheerleader? She was making eyes at you the other week?"

"Nah, man." Eddie stops the chatter and speculation, for the first time turning his gaze from Buck to his friends. "You guys don't... you don't know her, okay? Just leave it."

But nobody would, this is the biggest news to hit their dormant little high school gossip scene in a while and it's too good to pass up on. Especially when everyone present is brimming with the excited awareness that they are witnesses and will be interrogated the next day by the other students over and over again.

"Okay, nope. I'm not doing this. I'll see you guys at school tomorrow," Eddie declares, standing up. A few people get up in protest, but he simply fist bumps a couple of his friends, grabs his jacket and leaves.

When the door shuts behind Eddie, Buck is suddenly snapped out of it, reminded of where he is. There's not a single person here that he's interested in, not one reason to stay. He can't rush out right away, though. That would be too obvious. 

But his inner tension is building. The way this bunch resumes their game while chatting about the news, as if Eddie's love life matters only as entertainment, is getting on Buck's nerves. Fuck it. He's fearless. Right? He doesn't care about being obvious.

He gets up and when everyone's heads turn up to him, he shrugs his shoulders. "This isn't as much fun as I thought it would be. Later," he says and walks out.

The cold night air rushes at Buck and hits him like a slap. Where's he to go to now, anyway? What exactly was his brilliant plan? He can't go after Eddie. Definitely can't follow him to his house where his strict dad is, if that's where he went to. Buck's stuck in place, a little lost.

"Hey." The call that comes from two houses over is low. Above a whisper, but not by much, yet the voice is so distinct, standing out in the silent street. Buck turns and walks over, half surprised. The other half, oh... he can't figure out what it's feeling over the pounding of his heart that his bloodstream is echoing in every part of his body. Eddie retreats to just around the corner of the house, leading them to the side where its shadow can give them some privacy.

"I..." Eddie's eyes manage to capture some of the faint light and reflect it back with a shy sort of twinkle to match his now nervous smile. "I wasn't like, getting cold feet or anything. I swear!" he adds that quickly, as if he's scared he won't be believed. "And I didn't want to break up, so I hope... we're not?"

"Then what did happen?" Buck has to understand.

"Weren't you listening in there?" Eddie's tone is soft as he raises his hand and draws his thumb along Buck's eyebrow. Reaching the metal ring that's pierced right in the middle of the birthmark, Eddie presses reverently against it. "I love you," he says almost matter of factly, "and what that means is scary as shit."

Buck shrugs in response. He gets it. Being an outsider has never been a choice for him, ever since he was a child and the other kids refused to play with him because they thought there was something wrong with his face. He's had to learn how to roll with a lot more punches since then and homophobic slurs were simply the latest. But for Eddie this is all new enough to still be a mere threat. Who in their right mind would choose that reality?

"You can have an out if you need one," he says quietly.

Eddie moves his hand down to cup the side of Buck's face. "You're still not listening," he points out, ghosting his breath over Buck's lips. 

It's a question and Buck angles his face towards Eddie in answer, until their mouths unite. It's been a long week and the way their hands hold on to each other speaks volumes about how much they've missed being together. 

When Eddie opens up and Buck's tongue slips in, he can tell his boyfriend has had a swipe of vodka, too. Curious. This time, it's not repulsive to Buck. Instead, at the back of Eddie's mouth, it tastes like every bit of defiance that they choose to love each other with.


End file.
